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Palo Alto head coach Nelson Gifford celebrates as the final seconds wind down against Las Gatos during their first round game of the Central Coast Section Open Division I playoffs at Salinas High School in Salinas, Calif. on Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018. Palo Alto defeated Los Gatos 35-21. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Palo Alto head coach Nelson Gifford speaks with Palo Alto quarterback Jackson Chryst (9) while playing Las Gatos in the fourth quarter of their first round game of the Central Coast Section Open Division I playoffs at Salinas High School in Salinas, Calif. on Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018. Palo Alto defeated Los Gatos 35-21. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Palo Alto coach Nelson Gifford speaks with the football team after a 45-7 victory at Half Moon Bay on Friday, Aug. 31, 2018. (Courtesy of Karen Ambrose Hickey)

Palo Alto football Nelson Gifford enters his first season at the helm of his alma mater in 2018. (Courtesy of Karen Ambrose Hickey)

Palo Alto alum Nelson Gifford (class of ’99) is returning to his alma mater to take over the football program after five years as the head coach at Fremont High in Sunnyvale. (Photo by Gretchen Parenteau of the FHS boosters)

PALO ALTO — Palo Alto football coach Nelson Gifford is no longer a math teacher at his alma mater.

Instead, the 38-year-old assumed the role of athletic director barely two weeks ago.

“Yeah, I can’t leave — it’s part of my contract that I have to be here forever,” in jest said Gifford, who graduated from Paly in 1999 and returned last year to lead the Vikings to a 10-2 campaign. “No, that was the goal. I wasn’t joking when I said I wanted to be a part of the community and build something here. It matters to me, I care about the kids. I’m here and I really want this experience to be special for all athletes.”

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He takes over for Therren Wilburn, hired in 2016 as an assistant athletic director before taking over the full-time position a year later.

“I’ve always been told when you step into something make sure you left it better than when you inherited it,” Wilburn said. “And I think we were able to do that over the last three years.”

“It is a lot of work, there’s no doubt about it” Gifford said. “The demands are high, expectations in the community are high, and I just have so much respect for the level of professionalism that he brought attention to all sports and trying to create a very equitable and fair athletic environment.”

Wilburn mulled over his decision to depart for roughly three months, beginning with a trip in April to his hometown of San Diego for a meeting of the California State Athletic Directors Association.

“I left there really feeling empowered,” Wilburn said.

The ability to meet athletic directors from different sections, particularly on the public-school arena, reignited a passion for change in society within the 28-year-old, who got engaged over the summer.

“For me, one of the things that I wanted to do while I’m young enough is to try to fight that and really help the public schools’ athletic departments,” Wilburn said. “We talk about it all the time in our meetings, but I think the real way to do that is to put some research into it about what athletics do for school cultures.”

While applying to doctorate programs in Southern California, he’s accepted a job as assistant director of athletics job at Central Catholic in San Diego.

By the time Wilburn earns another degree, ideally he’ll learn a better understanding of his previous job at Paly.

“The first name that you think of most more times than not is a student-athlete,” Wilburn said. “I’ve gone to plenty of places where the first thing they say is, ‘Oh, isn’t that where Jeremy Lin went? Isn’t that where Davante Adams went? Or isn’t that where Jim Harbaugh went? So I think for a lot of schools around the state and around the country that’s the case.

“So one of the things as athletic administrators that we took back to our campus was to recognize you are the front porch of your school and try to make your actions reflect that.”

Gifford aims to ensure the same vision continues during a change in leadership.

While Wilburn wasn’t a part of the hiring process, Gifford received his recommendation.

“He’s a Paly alum, he bleeds green and white,” Wilburn said. “He’s one of the better coaches that we had and kind of understands the experience of the students. And, lastly, he’s just a great individual with inclusive thoughts.”

In a way, Gifford is following in the footsteps of his former football coach at Paly, as Earl Hanse also served as athletic director during his tenure.

“I guess, now look at me 21 years later, all I’m missing is a moustache,” Gifford said. “The reality of it is I’ve spoke with Coach Hansen, I’ve spoken to Jason Fung and Kathi Bowers, previous ADs, and all of them have been invaluable in giving me their insight into the job.”

During the interview process, Gifford spoke with the school’s principal, head of human resources and newly-hired assistant principal in charge of athletics.

Since taking over for Wilburn, a chance to oversee multiple sports such as water polo and volleyball only enhanced his passion for the minutiae involved.

“As a football coach, I live in that world and that’s all I did,” Gifford said. “Now, my world has expanded to all athletics and it’s been really fun and I’ve learned a it’s been really fun and I’ve learned a lot. It already has made me a better coach. There’s nothing better than learning from your peers and I’m very fortunate in that respect.”

Wilburn recently his shared folders with Los Gatos AD Ken Perrotti from April’s sportsmanship council, which is expected to meet again in September with the same group of student-athletes.

“High school is great in that every year is a new year,” Gifford said. “And so us being able to start the year in a new way, understating the problems of the past and addressing them before they take issue, I think the contests between Palo Alto and Los Gatos are going to be great.”

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Vytas Mazeika is a prep sports reporter for the Bay Area News Group. He covers athletics at every level, from high school to Stanford to the pros. Mazeika graduated from Carlmont High in 1994 and earned an English bachelor's degree from UCLA.